Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

Image
  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen

WATCH | Slovakia’s flying car takes to the skies

  LIFE / MOTORING

The AirCar completed a 35-minute flight from Nitra to Bratislava in Slovakia this week. Picture: SUPPLIED
The AirCar completed a 35-minute flight from Nitra to Bratislava in Slovakia this week. Picture: SUPPLIED

AirCar, a dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle moved closer to production last week, fulfilling a key development milestone by completing a 35-minute flight from Nitra to Bratislava in Slovakia.

ADVERTISEMENT

The vehicle then folded its wings and drove the rest of its journey.

The hybrid car-aircraft has a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel.

Its creator, Stefan Klein, says it can fly about 1,000km, at a height of 8,200ft (2,500m). It takes under three minutes to transform from car into aircraft. When not flying, the wings fold down along the sides of the car.

Slovakian company Klein Vision's prototype AirCar is seen after landing at Bratislava airport. Picture: REUTERS
Slovakian company Klein Vision's prototype AirCar is seen after landing at Bratislava airport. Picture: REUTERS

While flying, the AirCar reaches a cruising speed of 170km/h. It can carry two people, with a combined weight limit of 200kg.

ADVERTISEMENT

Klein, who was the pilot, has been developing a flying car since the late 1980s and previously worked for fellow Slovakian company Aeromobil, which is working on a similar flying car. Klein left Aeromobil in 2017 to form his own company, Klein Vision, with his friend Anton Zajac.

Klein’s flying car differs from the drone-like prototypes seen in recent years, which can carry passengers but cannot be driven. The AirCar is a true flying car that can be flown through the air and driven on the road.

“With Aircar you will arrive at your destination without the hassle of getting a ride to airport and passing through commercial security, you can drive your AirCar to the golf course, the office, the mall or your hotel and park it in a normal parking space,” said Zajac.

ADVERTISEMENT

Klein Vision is also planning four-seater and amphibious prototypes, but hasn’t confirmed when any of them might go into production.

AirCar, a dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle reaches a key development milestone with a 35-minute flight from the international airport in Nitra to the international airport in Bratislava on June 28 2021.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Inside Xanadu 2.0: Take a sneak peek into Bill and Melinda Gates’s Washington mansion

Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

Are there any planets outside of our solar system?